Chalk up another win for director Michael Bay and another Jake Gyllenhaal that doesn’t steer us wrong. It’s the new action blockbuster Ambulance, which arrived in theaters last month, and is now streaming on Peacock. Part revved-up first responder celebration in the vein of Backdraft, part heist in the lane of the original Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and part ticking clock race to the end like Unstoppable, it will keep you hanging on for two hours. A certain artistry of its own is required to get this genre just right, and Bay’s pacing, kinetic sense, and thrilling use of camera angles should have you comparing this to your favorite race and chase movies. It doesn’t have the humor of The Blues Brothers, the grit of The French Connection, or the sci-fi of Terminator 2, but it has a compelling two-hour chase through Los Angeles that’s worth your time.
Has Jake Gyllenhaal ever steered us wrong? Whether it’s as a confused teenager in Donnie Darko, a cartoonist-turned-detective in Zodiac, a stuck-out-of-time soldier in Source Code, or a scheming villain in Spider-Man: Far from Home, Gyllenhaal delivers good performances in exciting movies. With ten other movies in the works, this week he stars in director Michael Bay’s next explosion-filled, wall-to-wall action picture, Ambulance. And what a title. That’s up there with Skyscraper, Contagion, Earthquake, Towering Inferno, and Airport. Except it’s a heist movie, so closer in concept to The Bank Job and The Italian Job, with a twist of Denzel Washington’s John Q.
Take a look at the movie trailer below for Ambulance:
Moviegoers either love or hate Zack Snyder movies. His latest, Netflix’s Army of the Dead (reviewed here), is very different from the typical movie he directs, which includes 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League. Despite taking on a heist movie and a zombie picture in a major action movie, he wrote, directed, and took over the camera for Army of the Dead. The result was a mash-up that may appeal to regular Snyder fans or anyone else. This month to accompany the film, Titan Books releasedArmy of the Dead: The Making of the Film. If you liked the movie, and especially if you’re a fan of the horror genre and zombie films, you will want to check it out.
Zack Snyder finally did it. Despite taking on a heist movie and a zombie picture in a major action movie, he wrote a script and delivered the type of action blockbuster he has not yet been able to create. Army of the Dead is his first movie to get it right, a load of tropes, a mash-up of genre ideas, a tightly written story with a great cast, and wall-to-wall fun. Not a comedy like Shaun of the Dead or iZombie,Army of the Dead features the right amount of humor for this story, while incorporating all the expectations of any fan of the father of the genre, George A. Romero. Rivaling the incredible action and effects in 6 Underground, it also rises to become one of Netflix’s most promising productions.
Funny is in the eye of the beholder. How often do you ever agree with anyone as to what comedy is truly funny? We each only know what makes us laugh out loud and what doesn’t. TBS nailed it with its new series Angie Tribeca last year. TBS’s next half-hour comedy also could be laugh-out-loud funny. It’s The Guest Book, and on paper it sounds like Newhart, only without Bob, and focused on the guests instead. Replacing Bob is Night Court co-star and funnyman Charles Robinson, which could be just as fun. The Guest Book sprouts from Emmy winner and series creator Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl) and his habit of writing fictitious stories in the guest books of various rental cabins while on vacation, in an effort to “freak out” the next vacationers.
Each week we meet new guests, but the townies will be the same, including Robinson as the cabin owner. The Guest Book is notable for getting Kellie Martin out of the normal roles she’s played (always brilliantly) on the Hallmark Channel, straight arrow roles like those she’s done on Mystery Woman and Hailey Dean Mystery (why hasn’t Hollywood tapped her for film roles?). Here she will be the local sheriff. Regulars also include Carly Jibson as Vivian, and Frank, played by Lou Wilson. Other cast members from the town include everyone’s favorite guest villain Garret Dillahunt (Burn Notice, White Collar, Life, The X-Files), plus Laura Bell Bundy (Angie Tribeca, How I Met Your Mother, Veronica Mars, Guiding Light), Margo Martindale (New Girl, Orphan, The Riches, Medium, The Firm), John Ortiz (Medium, Law & Order), and Jenna Fischer (The Office).
As with Angie Tribeca, it will be an opportunity each week to focus on guest stars, so it could be a great platform to meet old friends in an anthology environment. These include fan favorite Danny Pudi (Community, Powerless), Stockard Channing (Batman Beyond, Grease, Sesame Street), Michael Rapaport (Chuck, The 6th Day, Cop Land), Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl, The Twilight Zone, Charmed), Lauren Lapkus (Adventure Time, Jurassic World), and Michaela Watkins (Angie Tribeca, New Girl, Saturday Night Live, Medium, Without a Trace, Charmed).
When USA Network announced last year that its hit spy series Burn Notice would see its last season this year, it really seemed like the right decision. The ramifications of Jeffrey Donovan’s Michael Westen getting a burn notice, blacklisting him and leaving him with nothing: no cash, no credit, no job history, stuck in Miami doing whatever came his way for six years with his trigger happy girlfriend/ex-girlfriend/girlfriend again (Gabrielle Anwar), his old friend that used to inform on him to the FBI (Bruce Campbell), his mom (Sharon Gless) and another spy who he burnt along the way (Coby Bell)–it all seemed like there was not much left for the series to show us that hadn’t been done.
But as happens with writers and creators of many TV series who know they are working on their swan song, it’s like someone gave them some java juice, and they delivered the best of their past three seasons.
Much credit goes to some superb casting this year. Heroes’ Jack Coleman, featured throughout the year as Michael’s CIA handler Andrew Strong, was the best featured character to come along since Coby Bell signed on as Jesse Porter in Season 4. Coleman was believable and likeable, in contrast with the misery the series put us through with Jere Burns’ black hat villain Anson Fullerton last season. Veronica Mars and CW’s Cult lead actress Alona Tal was also a welcome and interesting addition this year as Russian spy Sonya.
Thursday night’s series finale even featured a small role for genre favorite Alan Ruck as a scientist working for this season’s villain James Kendrick, played by John Pyper-Ferguson. If there was one storyline this season that almost turned us off it was leaving viewers to figure out what were the motivations of Kendrick, although Pyper-Ferguson managed to give us the best layered villain of the past several seasons. Was Kendrick ultimately “doing good” or was he a villain? Would Michael be justified in a continued support of Kendrick’s causes, or would the other villains–the CIA–win out in the end? Who would Michael eventually side with? With the penultimate episode and the finale last night, all of the questions posed over the past year, and even over the entire series, were laid to rest.
